The essence of mind
Is formless;
This itself is the subtle
Body of reality.
The essence of mind is
Inherently empty;
This itself is the infinite
Body of space.

— Ta-chu, Tang Dynasty Chan Master

Here is my current understanding of the poem

The essence of mind Is formless;

The mind is not by nature orderly and constricted with the boundaries we put on it

This itself is the subtle
Body of reality.

Reality is like our mind limitless but also chaotic (chaos is not always a bad thing)

The essence of mind is
Inherently empty;

Without the artificial boundaries that we create the mind is clear and floating along happily

This itself is the infinite
Body of space.

Because of the body/mind connection that which is true of our mind is true with out body and vicea versa. An example, The splits are not an impossible task. Anyone’s body can do the splits but we are limited by the idea that it hurts. This does not mean that you should force yourself into the splits today because “pain isn’t real” that will cause a horrific injury. What I do mean though is not to claim that you will never be able to do it because it hurts. Over time you can work through smaller pain events to get to the ultimate goal.

I started writing a series of articles on small goal setting and making todo lists, but I realized many of us have no idea how to set goals. There are a lot of things in life that we are expected to do but no one showed us how to do it. Goal setting is one of these. I didn’t even realize how much I had to learn about goal setting until I read this article from Psychology Today by Dr. Will Meek Ph.D.

Doc Meek sites John Norcross is a researcher that has been studying goals and change for many years, and defines a goal as a) identifying something that you want and b) are willing to stick with a course of action to achieve. Doc says

This is different from a “value,” because a value is something we find important, but does not have a specific course that we are committed to. For example, you can value being healthy and make some choices that are in line with that, but a goal related to healthwould be to “lose 10 pounds by December 31st.”

To start with he has some questions to ask yourself about your life:

In the big picture, what do you hope to experience and accomplish? In what ways do you want to improve your mental and physical health? What bad habits do you want to change? What relationships patterns do you want to improve? What skills do you want to learn? What other things have you been thinking about changing?

Wow those are some heavy and necessary questions. Your answers may change as your expectations and experience grow. Make sure the answers are first about you and not someone else. Then make sure they are realistic, achievable, worded positively, and lastly make sure that they are specific. Wanting to be “happier” or “a better person” is great but hard to achieve because of how vague they are.

Now that you have your goals you need an Action Plan!

You have your goal statements but now what are you going to do with them:

When I think about my problems they can become huge and unmanageable. Which can lead to inaction and depression. I often ask myself “How would people have dealt with this in the past?” or “If there was a full scale societal collapse how would I deal with this?”

Sometimes this allows me to put my problems in perspective. Society is a great thing. It gives us safety, stability, and more wealth than our ancestors could have ever dreamed of. It also puts a little too close and creates exceptions on how one should live. We are all up in everyone’s business.

I meet a lot of 20 and 30 somethings that are living at home with their parents, with grandparents or other “sub-optimal” living situation. These cats feel judged or believe they are judged even when no one has thought anything of it.

Don’t get me wrong everyone has an opinion, and they are entitled to it, but let’s look at it this way. You had been living in a shelter made of sticks and leaves for months. You have survived the cold, rain, maybe even snow. One day some guy walks by and says “Hey your shelter sucks you loser!” Are you going to be concerned that you aren’t considered cool in the eyes of some other dude? I doubt it, you are way too busy surviving to care about that dude.

Your real life is the same way. Don’t ever be ashamed of the way you are surviving. You are the one putting in the work. Anyone who comments on the way you are surviving has two options help or f*&k off.

The Mayo Clinic, WebMD, Psycology Today, and Washu (hey that’s me!) say that working out (especially cardio) can ease the symptoms of depression. How this works (I think) is that the increased heart rate causes your body to release endorphins which hang out in two receptors of your brain; the pleasure center and pain receptors. Ever been playing too rough an hurt a couple of hours from them or even the next day? Or in my case take a beating at a Martial Arts Tournament, anyway… That was all because of endorphins! It also could be Reducing immune system chemicals that can worsen depression, and/or Increasing body temperature, which may have calming effects. Either way you feel better about yourself and you are building that inner Savage.

The Mayo Clinic also says:

Regular exercise has many psychological and emotional benefits, too. It can help you:

Gain confidence. Meeting exercise goals or challenges, even small ones, can boost your self-confidence. Getting in shape can also make you feel better about your appearance.

Take your mind off worries. Exercise is a distraction that can get you away from the cycle of negative thoughts that feed anxiety and depression.

Get more social interaction. Exercise and physical activity may give you the chance to meet or socialize with others. Just exchanging a friendly smile or greeting as you walk around your neighborhood can help your mood.

Cope in a healthy way. Doing something positive to manage anxiety or depression is a healthy coping strategy. Trying to feel better by drinking alcohol, dwelling on how badly you feel, or hoping anxiety or depression will go away on its own can lead to worsening symptoms.

If you would like some help getting an exercise routine together click on Join the tribe and sign up!

Like most people who get involved in preparedness I went after the fun and cool parts of the checklist first. Credit Card sized survival tool, check. Tent, check. Weapons and ammo, check. Water filter, check. Solar battery charger, check. Enough food to last three days with a way to cook it if things get hairy? Well um… that’s not the fun stuff dude!

Until today that’s how I’ve been operating. I know, I know not smart, but after I trip to a big blue box store I am now I am meeting the Government’s basic suggestions on disaster preparedness. for a little over $60 I got 3 days worth of freeze dried food for 3 people and a 6 gallon water jug.

Peep that Best by date

Storing this food is as easy as, DON’T OPEN THE BLOODY THING! The pail is sealed with the food, camp stove, and fuel ready to go. No reason to mess with it. Once opened the self life goes from 25 years to 5.

The water on the other had takes a little, and I mean little more work. You must clean the canister and add a little bleach to the water. A rough guide is 1 teaspoon per gallon, and it should be rotated every 6 months.

Is this everything I need? Nope. but it is a bloody good start. You can find more info at ready.gov and redcross.org

This post was made in a free verse stream of consciousness. I have not and will not edit anything from this post. Here it is warts and all. More like art than prose.

I was talking to a buddy today that is having issues with balance. He didn’t see them as balance, he was way to busy putting out fires and being overworked to see that. I am lucky that I am in a constantly in a situation where balance and my awareness of it is called into question on a constant basis. But few live in my sphere of influence, and I haven’t been here as long as you may think.

By reading this blog or hanging out with me on social media you may not know but I am a computer nerd. I am a decade and a half long GNU/Linux User, I was an Ambassador and Marketing Team Member of the Fedora Project, I have 3 servers in my home, I was the Director of a Hardware Co-Op (a place that takes unwanted computing equipment and refurbishes it for the underprivileged), I did 4 or so podcasts, I even travelled 13 hours by bus to go to a LinuxFest! That’s right I am a gigantic nerd. This made me very happy for a very long time, but it changed the way my brain worked.

This is me at lunch at Fudcon Tempe

I remember during these years having arguments with my significant other (SO) about, why can’t you be logical! Why can’t you talk in a structured manner! Stories would meander like a hike in the woods, but what I wanted was a clear man page (man pages are like short Wikipedia articles on how to use a program in Linux) or technical documentation. My attention span was about 10 seconds. I needed popup notifications, and bells, and chimes, and flashing text, and, and I needed more input. Or so I thought.

When I started doing Kung-Fu that started to change. What I needed was movement, and fewer distractions, and accomplishments, and to constantly improve. Or so I thought.

Life is about balance. The Author Cory Doctorow once said “Engineers are all basically high-functioning autistics who have no idea how normal people do stuff.” (Eastern Standard Tribe, 2004) and I don’t disagree. All computer nerds have a certain level of Social Retardation. It’s what happens when your passion keeps you from face to face social interaction.

Notice I said FACE TO FACE interaction. Facebook, reddit, IRC, forums, mailinglists, and Skype are not face to face interactions.

OK so all I need to do is hang out with people in meat space, right!?! Well yes and no. What you need to do is diversify who you are hanging out with. Remember when I said that Kung-Fu was the solution to everything but then it wasn’t? You can spend too much time with improvers too. Not just Kung-Fu people but Financial Coaches, Health Experts, and Self Help Gurus. I didn’t really realize this until I dislocated my knee cap and tore my ACL. I was on the couch for a month while my insurance was sorted out. So since I couldn’t get in to do Kung-Fu I figured I should check in with my old computer pals. I found out they were not evil people who kept you from getting exercise, kept you wanting to buy stuff, and weirdo automatons (ok some of them may actually be weirdo automatons). They are just people. It was technology or my friends that was the issue… the issue is balance. It’s all about balance.

I hear it often that you are an amalgamation of the 5 people you spend the most time with. I believe this. So you need to pick this group carefully. Get 5 people on your “Social Team” that are from different groups. I do still think that negative people should still be if not avoided, should have limited contact. But yeah, consciously pick your Social Team, pick from as broad a population as you can.

I try to balance my time (whether face to face or in some type of media) between Comedians and Artists (they have spoken to my soul more than any preacher I have ever talked to) , Improvement People, Nerds (this includes Gun people, yes gun people are nerds), My SO (We influence each other greatly), and the people I grew up with (as long as they are not destructively negative).

So there you are, now shoot out your five love tendrals and attach to your Social Team, you know scratch that, you Social Tribe. Shoot out your five love tendrals and attach to your Social Tribe to create a vast symbiotic meta being. A Voltron of Love and Belonging. Strike fear and anguish into hatred and loneliness. Big Kiss, mwah!

———————————-
Hey did you know I have a mailinglist? It’s pretty awesome I have all kinds of tips and tricks in there to supercharge your full life upgrade.

Ok so the title is a little misleading. I’m on Elliot Hulse’s mailinglist an I got this email today, and it made me realize that I am the same way! I’ll let you read it and then I’ll jump back in.

Fine morning Kings and Queens ,

Whether you are aware of it or not, you are the Ordererof your life.

Your thoughts, hopes, fears, dreams and action are like the
bulldozer and and cranes by which you build your life.

Making you the foreman, top contractor, conductor and KING of
your life.

No one can take that away from you.

No matter what your circumstances, YOU are in full control
of your thoughts, hopes, fears, dreams and actions…. therefore,
YOU are the creator of your experiences.

When we take full ownership for our experiences, no matter how
pleasing or painful, we begin to shape the world around us.

You are THAT powerful.

Earlier this week we spoke about Love Languages, and how
we tend to love other people the way we ourselves like to be
loved.

It reminds me of the fact that I DO NOT care so much for awards,
or physical gifts.

Not that there is anything wrong with giving and pursing love though gifts
and awards; I just happened to be a words-of-affirmation kinda guy.

I prefer to be told I’m doing a good job, rather than awarded
with gifts.

When I was in hot pursuit of Strongman trophies back in 2006-2010
I was racking up award after award, winning more and bigger shows.

Above is a picture with Tom Mitchell and I after winning my Pro-card
in 2010.

Tom was my first, and only, Strongman coach.

What you may not notice in this picture is that I was far more pleased
and nurtured by Tom’s handshake and his soft but powerful affirmation,“I am proud of you Elliott” — rather than the trophy I’m holding.

In my hand is the biggest and most prestigious trophy I’ve ever
won in my four-year Strongman career, and it meant sh*t to me
compared to Tom’s kind words of affirmation.

I have a question for those of you who are competing in the years
Strength Camp Challenge….

What are you most excited about?

* The thrill of the pursuit?

* Setting and achieving the goal?

* Cheering and excitement of the crowd?

* The $10,000 cash prize?

* Or just a warm pat on your back, accompanied by the words “I am
proud of you”?

It’s a good idea to know what our real motives are, so when we
reach our goal — we can rest, enjoy and be at piece in it…

Rather than feeling empty, jipped or ripped off.

Remember, you are the creator of your life… so its up to you to be
clear about what makes you feel good, and what is just an empty
award.

Today, most of my Strongman trophies and awards are stowed away
in a box somewhere.

But Tom’s words-of-affirmation still reverberate in my ears and heart.

So, if you are still thinking about joining us and competing for the
cash prize and a pat on the back 😉 — then be sure to click here and
register ASAP.

Those of you who plan on joining us as a spectator, to meet me and
about 10 other YouTube celebrities— PLUS our massive after-party,
you can get all the info here too.

Bless up,
E Hulse

Wow I am the same way! Getting awards and trophies really don’t mean that much to me. I am actually equal parts embarrassed and proud when people ask about them. Just the title of this email warmed my heart. Is Elliot truly proud of me? I doubt it he doesn’t even know me, but I do represent the type of person he is proud of.

We don’t need to seek individual praise for what we are doing. Realize when someone is praising a group that you belong to that… THEY ARE ALSO TALKING ABOUT YOU!!! If you say something nice about my kwoon (Kung-Fu school) about a member of my team at Team Beachbody, or any of the people I teach. You are also saying something nice about me.

OK time to go, big kiss other equal parts of the larger meta being! Mwah!

———————————-
Hey did you know I have a mailinglist? It’s pretty awesome I have all kinds of tips and tricks in there to supercharge your full life upgrade.

The Beachbody Blog posted a great article called “10 Popular Diet Tips to Ignore” you’ll want to read the article for the Better Advice, but below I have listed the Bad Advice some of which I have given in the past!

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In grade school we learn about the Scientific Method that scientists use to prove a whether a hypothesis is true or false. The Six Wisdom is the scientific method for life skills. If you want to learn how to make better decisions and discover what is true and what is false in your own life, it pays to learn about the Six Wisdom. -Paul Mason